Historic NASA photos go on the Web

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- NASA has posted almost 200 pictures covering 50 years of the agency's history on the photo-sharing Flickr Web site for public feedback, officials say.

The images in three compilations are available for viewing and download in "The Commons" area of the site and are the first of many batches of pictures the agency plans to share, LiveScience.com reported Tuesday.

The Commons was launched by Flickr and the Library of Congress to increase access to publicly-held photography collections and provide a way for the public to contribute information and knowledge.

"NASA on The Commons is bringing literally out-of-these-world images to Flickr," Douglas Alexander, general manager of Flickr, said. "We are thrilled to be working with NASA to offer such a rich archive and provide amazing insight into this country's space program and its early beginnings."

Visitors to NASA on The Commons can add tags, or keywords, to the images to identify objects and people.

Viewers can also communicate with each other visitors by sharing comments.

The first three sets of photos share a common theme of NASA's beginnings. The "Launch and Takeoff" set captures iconic spacecraft and aircraft taking flight; "Building NASA" spotlights groundbreaking events and the construction of some of NASA's one-of-a-kind facilities; and a "Center Namesakes" set features photos of the founders and figureheads of NASA's 10 field centers.

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